City Commission Workshop

City of Deltona 2345 Providence Blvd. Deltona, FL 32725 Minutes City Commission Workshop Monday, October 11, 2021 5:30 PM Deltona Commission Chambers 1. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m. by Mayor Herzberg. 2. ROLL CALL – CITY CLERK: Present: 9 - Mayor Herzberg Vice Mayor Bradford Commissioner Avila-Vazquez Commissioner King Commissioner McCool Commissioner Ramos Commissioner Sosa City Attorney Acting City Manager 3. PLEDGE TO THE FLAG: Commissioner King led everyone in the pledge to the flag. 4. BUSINESS: A. Insurance presentation for process. The Acting City Manager stated staff passed out a two- page document for the Commission and some were left at the back table for the residents. The request was to review the City’s insurance process on how it works. He gave a brief overview on the insurance that is in place, the process, concerns regarding how past claims were handled and the process moving forward. The Commission and Acting City Manager discussed internal claims, the City vs. the insurance company settlement process, the Commission’s right to say “no”, discriminatory complaints, the disciplinary and hearing process, analysis of claims, new personnel policy and procedures, a letter of intent to terminate, the grievance process, investigations of past employees, standard protocol, addressing deficiencies and having a workshop to go over the policy changes. City of Deltona Page 1 Printed on 10/19/2021 City Commission Workshop Minutes October 11, 2021 The Commission and Acting City Manager also discussed the importance of exit interviews, the findings analysis, reasons for leaving, the insurance company vs. the City Attorney, consequences on the City and not settling too quickly. Mayor Herzberg asked to clarify if in the past exit interviews were stopped. Acting City Manager explained that exit interviews were not stopped and he explained the review process of the exit interviews. The Commission and Acting City Manager discussed the importance of policies and procedures, the lack of process. all claims in the last 10 years, settlements not disclosed to the Commission, request for quarterly updates, having a fair process, claims going through the insurance, and the true cost over time. After discussion, the Commission concurred to have the Acting City Manager bring back a process. The Acting City Manager stated the City has reached a settlement in the Brandy White case for $15,000 which the insurance will pay. At this point the settlement agreement will go back to the court for a final order. This is a case where it was first turned over to the insurance who denied the claim. Ms. White came before the Commission and staff reopened it. He and Mr. Fowler negotiated an agreement for up to $25,000 worth of counseling that was rejected. Then a lawsuit was filed by Ms. White which was turned over to the insurance again. Both parties have signed and he did it under his spending authority of $25,000. The Commission and Acting City Manager discussed Ms. White’s initial ask, the grievance process, the handling of Ms. White’s complaint, and the City not being retaliatory or less than upfront in the future. B. Discussion Item: ASA Contract Acting City Manager apologized for not being at the last meeting and he takes full responsibility for not preparing the Deputy City Manager on a couple of items. He gave a brief explanation of continuing services consultant contracts, the cost of a typical engineering contract, the 2.5 to 3 multipliers, benefit packages, Commissioner King’s concerns, the contract being for other services as assigned, accreditation processes, Parks and Recreation Master Plan, parking inefficiencies, national standards per capita, management structure, response times, and Mr. O’Grady’s qualifications. He also discussed changes to the Code Compliance Department, staff changes, looking at work schedules, Mr. Paradise’s new title and departments he oversees, internal investigations, helping with the hiring process, and finding another background check company. The Commission and Acting City Manager discussed Mr. O’Grady’s hourly rate, helping set policy, defragging files, being more proficient, moving forward and operating like a City, firefighter union negotiations, and Mr. O’Grady being contracted for 20 hours per week. City of Deltona Page 2 Printed on 10/19/2021 City Commission Workshop Minutes October 11, 2021 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Time permitted, public comments shall be limited to items on the agenda and shall not exceed two minutes. Please be courteous and respectful of the views of others. Personal attacks on Commission members, City staff or members of the public are not allowed, and will be ruled out of order by the Mayor. Elbert Bryan, Deltona, spoke about the Insurance Premium Allocation Handout, nowhere does it show what percentage of what went up or down from year to year, is it cheap for us to settle or take to court, how the contract amount for Mr. O’Grady was put into the agenda and he felt like he was misled and where was the transparency. Richard Bellach, Deltona, spoke about the process, lawsuits, cost to residents, skirting information, what the public thinks, Mr. O’Grady, nondisclosure form, settling claims, and audience attendance. 6. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS: The Acting City Manager stated with regards to Mr. Bryan’s comment about hiding things. Staff was fully prepared to take the item off the agenda and make the corrections. He takes full responsibility, what he did was take the agenda memo from back in January/February copied it, made a couple of minor changes and totally missed the dollar amount that he meant to change. One of things that will be done going forward is prior to public comment on consent items if there is something that staff wants the Commission to pull it will be done prior to public participation. Mr. Bryan is right; the perception was that staff was trying to pull a fast one yet there were a couple of Commissioners who caught the error. Staff was fully prepared to pull the and correct the item separate from the consent items for transparency. 7. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:43 p.m. __________________________________ Bridgette Lodwig, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT City of Deltona Page 3 Printed on 10/19/2021